Cook Out Southern 500: Chase Briscoe dominates, tames Darlington for second consecutive year

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe put together the most dominant race of his NASCAR Cup Series career as the Indiana native led 309 laps en route to his second consecutive victory in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

The driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota swept both stages and became the first driver to go back-to-back in the crown-jewel race since Greg Biffle (2005 and 2006). Briscoe also became the first driver to lock himself into the Round of 12 in the 2025 Cup Series Playoffs.

“There at the end, that was way harder than it needed to be,” Briscoe said. “Man, just what an incredible Bass Pro Shops Toyota. As a fan, I have watched Martin (Truex Jr.) dominate a lot of races, and it was fun to finally be behind the wheel of it. It is so cool to win two Southern 500s in a row. This is my favorite race of the year because of the race fans. You come here and it is sold out. The atmosphere is unlike anything else. Great way to start our playoffs and man, that was a lot of fun.”

Briscoe leading over 300 laps in the Southern 500 made him the first driver to do that since the late Bobby Allison way back in 1971.

Tyler Reddick’s No. 45 23XI Racing Pinnacle Toyota seemed to be the only car that could compete with the race winner. After being involved in a Lap 1 incident where Josh Berry spun and hit Reddick, the 29-year-old driver from California battled back to finish second in both stages and come within .408 seconds of getting his first victory of the 2025 season.

“The one time we got ahead of him there, we were just a little too tight,” Reddick said. “He was able to get back by us. I think for our Pinnacle Financial Partners Camry, we were better than he was on long runs. He could fire off a whole lot better. I think that was the difference tonight. I could get close. Yeah, I know we had a long run there, but it just unfortunately seemed like the last run the balance wasn’t quite as good as it has been the rest of the night on the long run. All-in-all, a really solid night for points in the playoffs.

“Really want to win here. It’s frustrating to finish second, going for it, like I did last spring, doing the wrong thing, ending our day and finishing 36th. I wish I could have been just a little bit closer. When I dove off in there, I was already sideways. I learned from last spring that that doesn’t work. Yeah, a good solid day, but hopefully one day we’ll win here at Darlington.”

Reddick now has three runner-up finishes at Darlington and scored stage points in every stage in the last five races at the South Carolina track.

Legacy Motor Club had the team’s best race as an organization co-owned by Hall of Famer and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Two-time Southern 500 race winner Erik Jones brought his No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota home third, while teammate John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth in his No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota.

For Jones, this was his ninth top 10 at the “Lady in Black.” It was also Jones’ second consecutive top-five finish, which was his first back-to-back top-five result in the Cup Series since October 2020.

“Probably to come off in the lead, leaving pit road,” Jones said when asked what he needed to contend for the win. “We were all kind of going the same speed. I felt like we were probably a little bit better than both of them. I couldn’t get the run. I thought I had the 45 (Reddick) there with maybe four or five to go. There was a little hole on the top. He squeezed up and filled it. Racing for the win. Yeah, it’s hard to be that close. Would have liked to have had another one. We were right there all day, good speed with the Dollar Tree Camry. We just need more of that. Hopefully, we keep these cars rolling and get one soon.”

For Nemechek, his fourth-place finish was the best finish of his Cup Series career in 92 career starts.

“I wish we had more laps,” Nemechek said. “The more that I ran, the better that I was. I hated to see that caution there at the end, because I felt like we were in a really good spot, long run speed-wise wise with the green flag cycle coming and everything else. Just not a lot of short-run speed, but we made the most of it. Proud of the effort from everyone at Legacy Motor Club. We continue to get better. It is pretty cool to have 42 and 43 (Jones) to finish in third and fourth at the Southern 500.

“I know I’m proud of the drive for myself. I’m proud of the effort. I’m proud of Travis (Mack, crew chief), and everyone that has been putting a lot into our Pye Barker Toyotas and making them faster. It feels good to come home fourth. I think that is my career-best finish in the Cup Series. Hats off to Pye Barker, everyone that has supported me through my career. Thank you to Jimmie (co-owner, Legacy Motor Club) and Toyota for taking a chance on me to kind of revamp my career and getting me back to the Cup Series.”

The top-four finishers were all Toyota drivers. For the first time in the Japanese manufacturer’s history, the top three were from three different teams. It was also the third top-four sweep in Toyota’s Cup Series history (2017 Watkins Glen, 2017 Bristol fall race).

Additionally, Toyota had six of the top-seven finishers, with 23XI’s Bubba Wallace finishing sixth and JGR’s Denny Hamlin in seventh.

Results from the 2025 Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway are listed below:

 

Other Race Facts

Hendrick Motorsports had no cars finish inside the top 15 during the Cook Out Southern 500. Chase Elliott was 17th, followed by Kyle Larson (19th), William Byron (21st) and Alex Bowman (31st).

Multiple drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs had trouble at Darlington Raceway. Christopher Bell, Bowman and Shane van Gisbergen all finished two laps down, while Josh Berry, who set the Xfinity Fastest Lap with a 29.04-second lap, finished 128 laps down and ultimately in last place.

Toyota led all but 16 laps (351 of 367 laps led), meaning Chase Briscoe (309), John Hunter Nemechek (15), Denny Hamlin (12), Bubba Wallace (10), Tyler Reddick (three) and Bell (two) combined to lead 95.64% laps at Darlington.

Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger led all Chevrolets with a fifth-place finish, while Chris Buescher was the highest finishing Ford in 10th.

Here is how the playoff standings look after the first race of the postseason:

GRID RANKING